Railway-switch.



C. A. TURNER & A. B. EDWARDS.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. zz, 1912.

Patented Oct. 28, 1913.

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RAILWAY SWITCH.'

APPLICATION FILED AUG. Z2, 1912.

Patented Oct. 28, 1913.

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CHARLES A. TURNER, AND ARA B. EDWARDS, OE HAMLET, NORTH CAROLINA.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 22, 1912. Serial No. 716,430.

To all whom 2'15 may concer-n Be it known that we, CHARLES A. TUR- NER and ARA B. EDWARDS, citizens of the United States, and residents of Hamlet, in the county of Richmond and State of North Carolina, have made certain new and use the movement yof the tongues /away ,from

the rails. Y

A further object of our invention is to provide means connected with an `ordinary switch stand for operating the tongue-locking mechanism.

A further object of our invention is to provide simple and inexpensive means for accomplishing the above named results, which ,consist of few parts, and which are not therefore liable Ato easily get out of order. i

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed .out in the appended claims.

Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings formingl part of this application in which- Figure 1 is a plan View Lof the device, Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the locking apparatus, Fig. .3 is a section along the line 33 `of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is an enlarged section along the line 4 4 of Fig,

)1, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged section along the line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

have shown therein the stationary rails 1, 2, 3 and 4, and the switch tongues 5 and 6, which are pivoted at 5X `and 6 respectively.

i At 7 and 8 we have shown extensions of the vrtarget rod 14 passes through the upper meincross ties, these being for the purpose of forming a base for the switch stand. The latter is mounted on a pair `of cross strips orbars 9 and 10 respectively. Secured'to the cross members 9 `and '10 is a U-shaped.

bers of the frames 11 and 13, being held in position by means of a. collar 15. Upon the rod 14 is a bevel gear 16, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3.` The rod 14 passes through the lowermembersof the frames 11 and 13,

Patented Got. 28,1913.

and is provided with a crank wheel 17. A

shaft 18 is rotatably carried jby lthe frame members 11 kand 12, and is provided with a gear 19 arranged to mesh with the gear 16. The opposite end of the shaft 18 is provided 'with a handle 119X bearing a weight 20-at its end (see Fig- 1), Disposed above each ofthe extensions 7 and 8 and above the cross members 9 and 10, which, as will vbe seen .from Fig. 4, are' countersunk into 'the tie, is a plate/21, which bears -a plurality of in-m verted U-shaped gui-de members 22 arranged to receive a slidable plate 23. The latter is provided with a cut-away portion 23X (see Fig. 4) arranged to receive a spring-locking member 24 `(see Figs. 1 and 4). A recess ,25. extends upwardly from v.the cutaway portion 23X into which the locking member 24 is arranged to spring to lock lthe plate in position. The plate 23 is provided with an inclined slot 23s"L arranged to receive` therbar or handle 19X, the Ufshaped guideV members 22 on either side forming lguide members for the bar or handle 19X as well as for the slidable plate- 23. As shown in Fig. 1 there are two of these plates 23, .one

disposed on eachside ofthe switch stand.

The means for locking the switch tongues is best shown in Fig. v2. A description of one of these mechanisms will suffice, since they `are both practically the same. Y c Referring now particularly to` Figs. 2 andV 5, it will be seen that we have provided on the outside ofthe web ofthe `stationary rails a plate 26, having a guide sleeve 27 secured the plate, as shown in Fig. 5. These sleeves are arranged to receive locking bars v28, which are provided at their ends with V- shaped recesses V29, arranged to receive one thereto, and extending in the direction of -Y Referring now particularly to Fig. 1, we

end of a bell-crank lever 30. The latter is l pivotally secured to the cranl; wheel '.17 at 36, on one side of the rod 14. The other end is pivotally secured to a bar 37 connected with the switch tongues and 6. Each of the switch tongues is provided with a laterally extending lug, such as that shown at 38 in Fig. 2, arranged to extend through an opening 39 in the web of the rail. The lugs 38 form locking members and are arranged to receive the locking bars 28 when the switch tongue is close to the permanent rail. A

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device the operation thereof may be readily understood.

Let us suppose that a train is approaching along the track from a direction indicated by the top of Fig. 1, and that the engineer desires to keep on the main track i. e., on the rails 2 and 4. The switch would be in the position indicated in Fig. 1 in which it will be seen that the switch tongue 5 is locked to the rail 1, while the switch tongue 6 is away from the rail 4. If now the engineer desires to take the siding he presses down on the spring locking member 24, with his foot, thereby bringing the locking member out of the recess 25. He now raises upwardly on the weighted handle 19X. The latter engages the upper edge of the slot 23a (see Fig. 4), thereby forcing `the slidable plate 23 toward the rails, t'. e., in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. This will cause a movement of the bell-crank lever 3() into the dot-ted line position shown in Fig. 2, thereby withdrawing the locking bar 28 from the locking lug 38 of the switch tongue 5. Further rotation of the handle 19 will cause a movement of the rod 37 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, thereby bringing the switch tongue 6 close to the rail 4 and withdrawing the switch tongue 5 from the rail 1. Still further rotation of the handle 19 will bring it to the companion sliding member 23 on the opposite side of the switch stand, the slot of this sliding member being in the position indicated by Fig. 4. It will be seen that as the handle is forced downwardly into the inclined slot the slidable plate will be moved away from the rails, z'. e., in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4. This will cause a movement of the bell-crank lever 30 on the opposite side of the rail in the direction of the curved arrow, and its locking bar 28 will now pass through the opening in the locking lug 38, so as to lock the switch tongue 6 to the rail 4. At each throw of the operating handle 19 from one side to the other, it will be apparent that the first action is the unlocking of the locked switch tongue, then a movement of the switch tongues to their proper position, and the subsequent locking of the other switch tongue in its shifted position.

We desire to call attention to the fact that if any obstruction, such as snow or ice should prevent a movement of the switch tongue close against the rail, the handle 19X cannot be forced into the inclined slot .23aL in the slidable plate 23, because it is necessary for the switch tongue to be close to the rail in order for the locking bar 28 to enter the opening in the locking lug 38, otherwise the bar 28 will strike against the lug 38, thereby preventing further movement of the bar, and also preventing further movement of the slidable plate 23. The very fact that the operator cannot force the handle down into the slot 23EL will show him at once that something is wrong. The obstruction can be removed, and the switch tongue may be locked. The construction described above will prevent the derailing of the train even if the bar 37 which controls the movements of the switch tongues should be broken. Ordinarily there would be nothing to keep the switch tongues from moving away from the rails if such were the case, but in our invention the tongue which is next to the rail is positively locked to the rails so that no matter whether the bar 37 is broken or not the tongue will remain in its position until manually unlocked. It will also be observed that no more effort is required to operate the switch and the switch locking mecha nism than in the ordinary switch, since the locking of the switch is accomplished by the movement which turns the target. The attachments which permit of the locking of the switch tongues are simple in construction and are not liable to easily get out of order.

lVe claimz 1. The combination with stationary track Y rails and movable switch tongues for each rail, of an operating handle,means connected wit-h said operating handle for simultaneously shifting said switch tongues, means operated by the handle for locking either of said switch tongues, said means comprising a slidable plate arranged to be moved by said handle, a lug carried by said switch tongue and arranged to project through said track rail, a slidable bar carried by said track rail, a slidable bar carried by said` track rail and arranged to pass through said lug, and abell-crank lever pivotally mounted on the outside of the rail, one end of said bell-crank lever being arranged to engage said slidable bar and the other end being pivotally connected to said slidable plate.

3. The combination with stationary track rails and movable switch tongues therefor, of an operating handle, means connected with said handle for shifting said switch tongues, a slidable plate disposed on each side of said switch stand, means connected with one slidable plate and arranged to be operated by a movement of said handle for locking one of said switch tonguesand means connected with the other slidable plate and arranged to be operated by a movement of said handle for locking the other of said switch tongues.

4. The combination with stationary track rails and movable switch tongues therefor, of an operating handle, means connected with said handle for shifting said switch tongues, a slidable plate disposed on each side of said switch stand, each of said slidable plates being provided with a slot having inclined edges arranged to be engaged by a movement of said operating handle for shifting said plates, a downward movement of said handle serving to shift the plate in one direction, and an upward movement serving to shift it in the opposite direction, and means connected with each slidable plate for locking one of said rails when the plate is shifted in one direction, and for unlocking it when it is shifted in the other.

5. The combination with stationary track rails and movable switch tongues therefor, of an operatingy handle, means connected with said handle for shifting said switch tongues, a slidable plate disposed on each side of said switch stand, each of said slidable plates being provided with a slot having inclined edges arranged to be engaged by a movement of said operating handle for shifting said plates, a downward movement of said handle serving to shift the plate in one direction, and an upward movement serving to shift it in the opposite direction, means connected with each slidable plate for locking one of said rails when the plate is shifted in one direction, and for unlocking it when itis shifted in the other, and spring means for locking one of said slidable plates.

CHARLES A. TURNER. ARA B. EDWARDS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

